My Hope for Our Society
My response to Mashable’s article: “How Universal Basic Income changes the future”.
Due to COVID-19, we can start to see the beginnings of the acceptance for Universal Basic Income. With the rise of unemployment rates projected up to 17% from the previous 50-year low of 3.5% back in December, the previously unlikely idea is beginning to gain ground in Congress. This statistic matches the 10% plus contraction that is associated with a depression, proving the rising rates of unemployment are not just a recession.
Not only have millions of jobs been lost due to COVID-19, but in the upcoming years, it looks likely more jobs will be lost due to the increase in automation. Universal Basic Income in these times has become less demonized and is something both parties can begin to agree on. For the Democratic Party, the upside is taking away from the critics of welfare by giving every citizen a standard amount, while the Republican Party is a fan of the policy because it is a cut and dry system where everyone gets the same check. It is a win-win for both parties.
What makes Universal Basic Income interesting though is the idea of what will happen next? This extra money will provide many stability, but others it is the extra push they needed. As a result of UBI, we can expect to see a creative boom as people have money to explore technology, art, and other innovative ideas. With the rise of UBI and automation, it is theorized that in the future we may see a “fully automated luxury communism” society, a term coined by Aaron Bastani. Through automation, we have the ability to create and deliver goods at a low or no price point.
While this may seem to be unrealistic, in recent years we can see that communism has a more positive connotation with millennials and has moved from 28% to 36% from 2018-2019. As the younger population rises up we can see a change in perceptions, like how Bernie had a strong following which would’ve been unlikely before. Greg Ferenstein explains this future utopia would probably be something similar to the college experience, a time where leisure and food are readily available, but there is a large focus on finding your passion, researching, and contributing to the world. In this future society, it is probable that we would shift from more of a capitalist make money mentality, to a gift economy where we help each other.
My argument against this future though is as a society we often fail to learn from our past, one example being discarding the policies of the New Deal that helped boost the economy. It is likely that after the economy does well selfishly the population will want taxes to decrease and then the economy will fall again for those who are not in the 1%. Also, I think communism isn’t the proper approach, but a system of democratic socialism where the people have a voice. I believe that without a system where people are heard we won’t see results. If we can rely on the population to be open to the idea we may be able to see this society succeed in the future, and I’m hopeful that it does.
Mashable- How Universal Basic Income changes the future: https://medium.com/mashable/how-universal-basic-income-changes-the-future-945c12b9cd80
